Wanting To Cry

A time of such sadness; yet, I could not cry.
Knowing of her peace gave me cold chills.
Emotions flooded my head,
Wishing her blue eyes would just look my way,
One more time.
Wanting to tell her of my love.
One more hug, three more words was all I wanted.
The Lord told me she was safe.
I hoped He'd deliver my message.
Wanting to wrap my arms around her cold lifeless body.
I sat unable to look.
Her beautiful face with no words was hell.
Memories came to me over taking my thoughts.
All concentration lost,
Just wanting her to wake up and say my name.
Yet, I still could not cry.

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Editor’s Note

The number one question our editors receive is—what do the editors and judges look for when judging the contest? The number one answer we give is creativity. Unlike prose, writing composed in everyday language, poetry is considered a creative art and requires a different type of effort and a certain level of depth. Of the thousands of poems entered in each contest, the ones that catch our judges’ eyes are the ones that remove us, even just slightly, from the scope of everyday life by using language that is interesting, specific, vivid, obscure, compelling, figurative, and so on. Oftentimes, poems are pulled aside for a second look based simply on certain words that intrigued the reader. So first and foremost, be sure your poetry is written using creative language. Take general ideas and make them personal. In his infamous book De/Compositions: 101 Good Poems Gone Wrong, W. D. Snodgrass imparts, “We cannot honestly discuss or represent our lives, any more than our poems, without using ideational language.”